Transcendence
by Pandora Stevens
Summary: After returning home from Volterra, Bella is surprised to find a new addition to the Cullen family - a girl named Evie. However, everybody insists that Evie has always been a member of the Cullens. So why is Bella the only person who can't remember ever meeting this girl? Could it have something to do with Victoria's impending attack? Or is something more sinister at work?
1. Prologue

**Author's Notes: Thank you to everybody who has clicked onto this story. It is my very first Twilight series story and I hope that you will find it enjoyable. I aim for this to be a multi chaptered story and while the prologue is written in third person to set the scene, the rest of it will be in first person perspective (a mixture of Bella's, some of the Volturi and an Original Character).**

 **Note: This story will contain OCs/Original Characters in order to expand and explore certain aspects of this story. The prologue takes place immediately after New Moon and the remainder of the story will be set during Eclipse. It will follow largely follow the canon but I will be taking liberties with Sulpicia and Aro's relationship as it was never properly characterised.**

* * *

 _Prologue:_

 _Volterra Italy, 15th March 2006_

The three leaders of the Volturi were conferring in their vast, extravagant chamber about the events that had earlier transpired in that room regarding the Cullen family and the human that the most gifted member had grown infatuated with.

"I fear that you are growing lenient in your age, Aro." Caius uncrossed his legs, straightening out his shoulders before he looked over to the raven haired leader. "Complacency was what brought about the downfall of the Romanians."

"Brother, allay your worries." Aro clasped his hands together, "I believe we handled the situation appropriately. No blood needed to be shed and we still remain on good terms with the Cullens. They know how important it is to keep our kind hidden from the world and in addition to that, young Alice herself promised to transform Isabella."

The blonde haired vampire growled, "Just because you covet the talents of the mind reader, the fortune teller and the human. It is clear that his…love for her will cloud his judgement and when it comes down to changing her, he'll back out. It would be less tiresome in the long run if we executed her."

Aro frowned, standing up off of his throne. "It would be such a waste. As a human, she is simply astounding but as one of us…she would be truly brilliant. Think of all the possibilities and in time, I am certain that they will choose the wise option and join us."

Caius stood up, a frown gracing his granite features. "Nevertheless they need to be monitored. I doubt that they will follow through on their side of the agreement. The Olympic coven is already larger than most other groups and filled with an above average number of talented individuals. And above everything else, Carlisle has strong ties with other covens. How can we be certain that they aren't planning to overthrow us at any time?"

Marcus, who had remained silent during the entire tête-à-tête chose that moment to interject. "And how do you propose we do that? Are you also forgetting that with the mind reader, he'll be able to see the intentions within that person's mind and alert his family?"

Aro and Caius both glanced at Marcus in brief surprise, before sharing a look with each other.

"Dear Marcus is right. After all, Carlisle is familiar with all of the guard and with Edward's admirable gift, even if we used our influence to persuade a member of the Denali coven such as Eleazar to monitor them, he would know of our interference." Aro stressed, his playful tone wavered. The one thing that intimidated Aro was the possibility of being overthrown, which was why the raven haired vampire was so intent on procuring the most talented individuals that benefitted him. It was also the fear of the unknown, not being able to see what lied ahead if certain situations weren't closely monitored.

Aro sighed, why did Alice Cullen keep refusing his offer? Her clairvoyance may be limited in certain aspects (such was the unpredictable nature of the world) but to even have a glimpse of the possibilities the future held!

Caius had spent the last few moments mulling over his comrade's words. Marcus' power to see the bonds between individuals was more useful than most people realised. The danger with the Cullens was not just their number or connections, rather how it was the stability of their unit and how strong a bond they had with one another. Infiltrating a structure like that would be near impossible. Unless…

"Where is that _child_ that Sulpicia is so attached to?" Caius sneered, an idea beginning to formulate in his mind.

Aro cocked his head to the side, slightly puzzled. He held his palm out towards Caius who tapped his palm briefly to enlighten him. Aro raised one of his black brows as he was brought up to speed.

"I see, but would that be wise? There is no doubt that the girl is gifted but can we afford to spare her for some trivial matter? The reason we haven't had to eliminate entire villages or draw any unnecessary attention to ourselves is because of her gift." Aro felt some sort of pride swell up in his chest. After Chelsea and Renata, she had become one of the most useful additions to his 'collection'. It was an unusual skill that he hadn't come across and the possibilities it held were limitless.

"Trivial?" Caius scoffed, "Even the smallest of tears can grow to unravel the most magnificent of tapestries. If we leave the Cullens to their own devices, I can assure you that we will later regret this decision. And," he smirked. "If her services are required, then we can simply take care of the problem the way we did in the past. It's about time we exercised our power again to remind everybody what we are capable of."

Although Aro had been arguing against Caius, he himself knew that his more ruthless counterpart was right. If Isabella remained human, she violated their laws. If left in peace, the Cullens would potentially grow larger and become reckless as a result; their insistence over protecting Isabella further proved it. The Cullens left unmonitored was not an ideal situation.

Now the only problem was to wean the girl away from Sulpicia. It would be simple enough, the girl was obedient towards him and did whatever Aro requested. His wife on the other hand would complain profusely and try to obstruct his orders. Still, there was a reason Corin remained in the Volturi's employment.

Aro nodded in Caius's direction, "Very well. Until the Cullens prove that they are no threat to our way of life, we'll keep them closely monitored. Demetri?"

No sooner had his name been called, the olive skinned tracker appeared in the middle of the marble floor. Demetri bowed his head in respect, "Yes Master?"

"I have a mission for Chiara, where is she?" Aro inquired.

For once, Caius appeared to be satisfied with how everything was shaping up to be.

Demetri didn't even need his tracking abilities to discover her location, she rarely left the tower because of how attached Sulpicia was to her. On the rare occasion that Chiara wasn't in the wives company, she typically assisted Demetri with his duties, fascinated by tales of his human life.

"With Corin in the tower, and do you require any other members of the guard?" Demetri offered, readying himself to leave the room.

Aro held his hand up, "That won't be necessary Demetri. Chiara alone will be enough for the task I have in mind."

"As you wish Master." Demetri bowed once again as a sign of respect before he vacated the room.

Caius turned on his heels and returned to his throne. "So good of you to listen to reason for once. There is no doubt in my mind that we are taking the most practical option."

"Yes, but only time will tell if this is the option that is in everybody's best interests." Aro rebutted, anticipation pooling into the pit of his stomach.

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Next chapter will be taking place in Forks and I'm sorry if anybody found anything in this chapter confusing, I'm trying to maintain some mystery but as the story progresses it should become clearer. Thank you to anybody who chooses to review or follow this story.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Alright thank you to the three people who were kind enough to review and follow this fic. You all encouraged me to publish the first chapter with how positive you were in your reviews. Remember, I do not own Twilight, I only own my OC Evie. I also used some extracts from New Moon which belongs to Stephanie Meyer. Also to those who always think of the Twilight movies when it comes to the characters, I imagine that Evie would have been portrayed by Bella Thorne.**

* * *

 _Chapter 1_

 _Forks Washington, 19th March 2006_

Bella's POV

" _I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.  
Delicious Ambiguity."  
― __Gilda Radner_

Life has a way of favouring the unexpected. After the events of my 18th birthday when Edward promised that I would never see him again, I'm disheartened to say that I believed him. Needless to say, I became a shell of my former self and I sank into the depths of depression because I was unable to fill the void that the Cullens had left in my heart. But Jacob had helped piece me back together and I will forever be grateful to him for that.

So when Alice appeared out of the blue with news that Edward was going to the highest authority among vampires, the Volturi, after he believed I committed suicide…I couldn't believe that life would throw such a curveball at me. Travelling to Italy and almost getting massacred has a way of causing you to view life from a new perspective. Getting issued an ultimatum by the most powerful beings in existence doesn't hurt either.

The Volturi are pushing for the loss of my humanity by insisting that I get turned into a vampire. In a way, I'm thrilled because it means that I'll no longer be a burden to Edward. I hate being viewed as the _fragile human_ that everybody has to walk on egg shells around in case I break. The events that occurred last year isn't in my favour either after the Cullens went to great lengths to protect me. I appreciated it more than words could ever express that they viewed me as one of them, but that's the thing. I'll never _truly_ be a part of their family while I'm still a human, I age. Every day, every hour, every minute, every _second_ , is a step closer towards my eventual death.

If Edward lost the will to live at the thought of me jumping off of that cliff, then how would he react in sixty odd years when he's at my bedside, holding my hand, watching me take my last breath? The thought of hurting him fills me with complete agony and I couldn't bear to do that to him. I could imagine the scenario in my head clearly. My wrinkled hand would be cradling Edward's immaculate face, he would be putting on a brave face and reassuring me that time hadn't marred my looks, that I was still the centre of his universe. After calming me down, I would fall asleep in his embrace like I had, countless times before except this time, I don't wake up.

If Edward wanted me to remain human under the pretence of saving my _soul_ , then he was being selfish and delusional if he believed that I would let him hurt himself like that. It was at that moment, lying with him in my bed for the first time in months, the Volturi's demand hanging over our heads and his willingness to allow his family getting into a battle they had low odds of winning, that I realised the only logical solution was to involve his family in this decision. After all, did they not have a right to vocalise their opinions if the Volturi chose to confront us?

I pushed Edward's arms away from me so that I could push my bed covers off of me and get out of my bed. Where the hell are my sneakers?

"Do you want me to leave?" he asked. A hurt look filled with his eyes and it wounded me that after everything he just said to me, he would believe that I wanted him as far away from me as possible.

"No." I informed him. " _I'm_ leaving." I needed to find my car keys too. There was only so long I could maintain my bravado and the least I could do was use it for something beneficial towards my future.

"May I ask where you are going.'" he inquired, squaring his shoulders before crossing his arms.

"I'm going to your house." I tried to make it sound like it was the most casual thing in the world, blindly feeling for my shoes. I didn't want to risk turning on my lights and waking up Charlie.

Edward got off of my bed and came to my side, a flash of white in his hands. I recognised them as my sneakers when he handed them to me, I immediately slipped them on and realised I was barefooted. Ah well, it's not like anybody can see them.

"Here are your shoes. How did you plan to get there?" He cocked his head to the side, waiting for my answer.

"My truck."

I don't know why he would even ask that question, I don't have superhuman speed and walking to the Cullens is out of the question.

"That will probably wake Charlie," he offered as a deterrent.

I sighed. "I know. But honestly, I'll be grounded for weeks as it is. How much more trouble can I really get in?"

"None. He'll blame me, not you. Look Bella, why don't you stay here?" He suggested, "We can discuss this in the morning."

I had to resist my urge to scoff, "No way. But you go ahead and make yourself at home," I encouraged, surprised at how natural my teasing sounded, and headed for the door. He was there before me, blocking my way. I knew Edward wouldn't make this easy but he severely underestimates me if he thinks I'm staying here. Maybe the window would be a good escape route? It wasn't that far to the ground and it was covered in grass.

"Okay," he sighed. "I'll give you a ride."

Victory! Although this was probably the easy part, I don't think Edward is going to be my biggest fan after my next sentence.

"Either way. But you probably should be there, too." I felt my palms dampen, he definitely wasn't going to like this.

"And why is that?" He questioned with a frown.

"Because you're extraordinarily opinionated, and I'm sure you'll want a chance to air your views." I took a deep breath after realising I had been holding it in.

"My views on which subject?" He asked through his teeth.

"This isn't just about you anymore. If you're going to bring the Volturi down on us over something as stupid as leaving me human, then your family ought to have a say." I looked him straight in the eye, my fears melting away once I remembered that I was a stronger person then I gave myself credit for. These last couple months proved that, the worst was over and now all I could do was look to the future.

"A say in what?" he asked, each word distinct.

"My mortality. I'm putting it to a vote." I crossed my own arms to show him that my mind was already made up.

While it was evident by the face he was pulling that he wasn't pleased with my decision, he still chose to honour it and scooped me up into his arms before shooting out of my window. Edward adjusted me onto his back and soon we were off, the trees became blurs in my eye line.

* * *

What caught my attention was the lack of dust. It was as if the Cullens had never left, the piano and the white couches were just like I remembered it.

"Carlisle? Esme? Rosalie? Emmett? Jasper? Alice?" Edward broke me out of my thoughts, calling out the names of his family with the same volume used in a regular conversation.

Carlisle was the first one to appear, he smiled and patted my shoulder. "Welcome back, Bella. What can we do for you this morning? I imagine, due to the hour, that this is not a purely social visit?"

I nodded. "I'd like to talk to everyone at once, if that's okay. About something important."

It was really happening, in just a few seconds I would be able to get a definite answer on whether or not I would be changed into one of them. Finally, no more beating around the bush or dodging the inevitable question regarding my mortality. Edward looked pained, I wish he could see everything from my perspective. What if he was in my position? If he was the defenceless human who had to be protected at whatever the cost? Well no more.

Of course," Carlisle said. "Why don't we talk in the other room?" Carlisle led the way through the bright living room, around the corner to the dining room, turning on lights as he went. The walls were white, the ceilings high, like the living room. In the centre of the room, under the low-hanging chandelier, was a large, polished oval table surrounded by eight chairs. Carlisle held out a chair for me at the head. I thanked him and sat down, watching as the rest of the family flooded the room.

Carlisle sat down on my right, and Edward on my left. Everyone else took their seats in silence. Alice was grinning at me, already in on the plot. Emmett and Jasper looked curious, and Rosalie smiled at me tentatively. My answering smile was just as timid. That was going to take some getting used to.

Carlisle nodded toward me. "The floor is yours."

Good, time to get down to business.

"Well," I paused. "I'm hoping Alice has already told you everything that happened in Volterra?" It would certainly save me time explaining, there is already a lot to be done.

"Everything," Alice assured me.

I threw her a meaningful look. "And on the way?"

"That too," she bobbed.

"Good," I sighed with relief. "Then we're all on the same page. The Volturi were prepared to kill me because they feared that I would expose your secret, which you all know I could never possibly do. Thankfully due to Alice's ingenuity, she managed to avoid them carrying this threat out by promising them that I would become one of you. However," I looked at each one of their faces, trying to gauge a reaction from them. "They're going to send someone to check that this happens and I'm sure that this is something we want to avoid. I'm sorry to drag you all into this and if you don't want me, then I'm not going to force myself on you, whether Alice is willing or not."

Esme opened her mouth to speak, but I held up one finger to stop her. "Please, let me finish. You all know what I want. And I'm sure you know what Edward thinks, too. I think the only fair way to decide is for everyone to have a vote. If you decide you don't want me, then… I guess I'll go back to Italy alone. I can't have them coming here."

The ramifications if the Volturi appeared here, I can't visualise a situation in which it ends well.

"Taking into account, then, that I won't put any of you in danger either way, I want you to vote yes or no on the issue of me becoming a vampire." I half-smiled on the last word, and gestured toward Carlisle to begin.

It was a relief to get everything off of my chest and let my feelings on this subject to be known. Now, I just hope a majority of the Cullens are going to be on my side and vote yes…

"Just a minute," Edward interrupted. "There is another possibility that we can consider."

He descended into a long winded explanation about how Demetri, the Volturi's tracker, may not be able to track me because if Jane and Aro's abilities didn't work on me, then there is a good chance Demetri's wouldn't either.

"All right, then. Edward has offered an alternative for you to consider," I said coolly. "Let's vote." I looked toward Edward this time; it would be better to get his opinion out of the way.

"Do you want me to join your family?" His eyes were hard and black as flint.

"Not that way. You're staying human." I nodded once, keeping my face business like, and then moved on.

"Alice?"

"Yes."

"Jasper?"

"Yes," he said, voice grave.

I was a bit surprised that he agreed, I hadn't been sure what his answer would be.

"Rosalie?" She hesitated, biting down on her full, perfect bottom lip.

"No." I kept my face blank and turned my head slightly to move on, but she held up both her hands, palms forward.

"Let me explain," she pleaded. "I don't mean that I have any aversion to you as a sister. It's just that… this is not the life I would have chosen for myself. I wish there had been someone there to vote no for me." I nodded slowly, and then turned to Emmett.

"Hell, yes!" He grinned. "We can find some other way to pick a fight with this Demetri."

I was still grimacing at that when I looked at Esme.

"Yes, of course, Bella. I already think of you as part of my family."

"Thank you, Esme," I murmured as I turned toward Carlisle.

To me, Carlisle's answer mattered the most above every other person in this room. That's why my knees were shaking slightly as I waited for his answer, if he said no…

Carlisle wasn't looking at me. "Edward," he said.

"No," Edward growled. His jaw was strained tight, his lips curled back from his teeth. I knew that he wouldn't take this meeting well, but to see him so angry.

"It's the only way that makes sense," Carlisle insisted. "You've chosen not to live without her, and that doesn't leave me a choice." Edward dropped my hand, shoving away from the table. He stalked out of the room, snarling under his breath.

"I guess you know my vote." Carlisle sighed, a resounding crash reached my ears from the other room.

"That's all I needed to hear, thank you everybody for-" Alice interrupted my closing sentence.

"Wait! Evie hasn't voted yes or no yet." My brow furrowed in confusion.

"Evie? I'm sorry but Alice, who are you talking about?" I asked before a figure emerged from the door at the bottom of the room. Upon further inspection, I realised that it was a girl except she was too beautiful to be human.

"I'm here!" Her bubbly voice rang out, she sounded apologetic and bowed slightly, rushing to my side. "Bella, I'm so so so so so sorry that I couldn't see you when you landed. Unlike the others, I couldn't leave Ithaca immediately because I had some business there. I'll update you on the gossip later," she winked.

My mouth dropped open, at first I thought she was Victoria simply because her hair was a similar orange shade. If you looked at her long enough, you could see that that was where the resemblance ended. Her chest length hair was straight and sleek in contrast to Victoria's curls. She looked around my age but with vampires, it was hard to distinguish their age from just their appearance. Like most vampires I've met, she had pale skin but her black irises were what frightened me.

She was thirsty.

"Who are you?" I found my voice growing in volume and I resisted the urge to bolt out of my chair.

The redheaded girl laughed as if she had no cares or worries in the world. "You're joking right? Bella you've known me for practically a year, how can you forget my name?" She rested her hand on my shoulder and looked straight into my eyes, her smile wasn't reassuring to me in any way.

Esme looked worried, "Bella surely you remember Evie?" In a blink of an eye, Esme was by my side and felt my forehead. "Did the Volturi harm you somehow?" Her palm felt refreshingly cool against my now flushed skin.

"They didn't do anything to me. I've never seen this girl before in my life, yet she's acting like she knows me." My social skills are arguably underdeveloped and in the presence of people I don't feel comfortable with, they seem to further regress.

Now Carlisle looked concerned, "Bella this is Evie. She's been a part of our family since the 1950s after a coven in Romania murdered her family and converted her because they thought she would have a special talent that would aid them in dismantling the Volturi. When she didn't they tried to destroy her and she wandered around for a few years before finding Jasper and Alice."

Evie looked equally worried, "Maybe she needs to rest more? Travelling for a long period of time might be having an adverse effect on her."

This doesn't make any sense. There are only seven members of the Cullen family and now they're telling me that I've _forgotten_ one?

"No, no, this isn't right." I insisted, shaking my head and focusing on what I was sure of.

* * *

 **Note: Bella was gone for three days and slept for fourteen hours when she arrived back in Forks after seeing travelling to Volterra. The events in the prologue when Aro, Marcus and Caius were talking about the situation occurred after Alec dismissed Alice, Edward and Bella. Assuming the first day of Bella's disappearance is the time it took to get to Italy, the second day is when everything took place and the third day is travelling back to Forks along with Bella being asleep for half a day, it is enough time for Chiara to infiltrate the Cullens. And I assume Edward would have gone back to his home at one point before seeing Bella in order to assist his family and allow Charlie to fall asleep first.**

 **Thank you to everybody who read this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it and stay tuned for chapter two where it'll be a mixture of Bella and Evie's perspective. Any type of review is welcome.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes: Wow, I can't believe this story already has 8 reviews, 8 followers and 5 people who listed it among their favourites. I would like to thank Compulsive Fangirl, justabookreader, .7334, potterfan922 and jibson01 for leaving a review, along with the other followers who may not want their pennames to be written down. I hope everybody enjoys this chapter and the direction in which this story is heading.**

 **Also to reply to the Guest reviewer's question, when isn't Bella in danger? ^^**

 **Note: I do not own Twilight or any of the New Moon excerpts I used in some of this chapter, it is the intellectual property of Stephanie Meyer. I only own my OC Evie.**

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Chapter 2

 _Forks Washington, 19th March 2006_

Bella's POV

" _The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life."  
– Richard Bach_

Jasper was the one who had to calm me down because I was in such a panicked state that I lost my ability to form coherent sentences. He and Carlisle sprang to action, taking me out of the dining room and relocating to Carlisle's study.

"How do you feel now?" Jasper asked, even though he knew exactly how I felt. It was the nature of his gift, he could feel and manipulate the emotions of people around him.

"A lot better," I admitted. "I guess being faced with a thirsty vampire you've never seen before is a good way to shoot your nerves."

Carlisle and Jasper looked at me like I was going insane and maybe I was, or maybe this was a dream or I really did die in Italy.

"Evie already apologized for rushing to meet you without feeding first, but she wanted to make sure you were okay because she couldn't wait to see you." Carlisle explained, stroking the back of my hand with his thumb in what I assumed was an attempt to soothe me.

"I keep telling you, I've never met Evie before in my entire life." I wanted to shout but Jasper's influence kept me in such a calm state of mind that shouting was the last thing I wanted to do right now. "How can you al-"

There were three rapid knocks on the study's door that stopped me mid rant. The door cracked open slightly and Alice poked her head through the gap. "Bella, I'm really sorry. Evie phoned me an hour ago and I wanted it to be a surprise, so I didn't tell anybody. She's outside hunting now but if it helps, she did vote yes to you becoming a member of our family."

I let out a breath that I hadn't even realised I was holding. "Where's Edward?"

No sooner had his name left my lips, he was right beside me. I rested my cheek on his shoulder and he kissed my forehead, seemingly forgetting his earlier outbreak. At least that was one benefit of having some sort of mental breakdown.

"Let me take you back home, to bed." Edward whispered. "I should have never allowed you to come here while you were still emotionally fragile."

I protested, "I'm perfectly fine. Besides we have more important issues now. Your family just agreed to me becoming a vampire. Alice," I looked over to her. "Where do you want to do this?"

Alice stared at me, her eyes widening with terror.

"No! No! NO!" Edward roared, his sweet smelling breath filled my nostrils. He was in my face before I had time to blink, bending over me, his expression twisted in rage. "Are you insane?" he shouted. "Have you utterly lost your mind?"

I cringed away, my hands over my ears.

"Um, Bella," Alice interjected in an anxious voice. "I don't think I'm ready for that. I'll need to prepare…"

"You promised," I reminded her, looking over to her from under Edward's arm.

"I know, but… Seriously, Bella! I don't have any idea how to not kill you."

"You can do it," I encouraged. "I trust you." I've wanted to be a vampire for such a long time and now that it's within my grasp, I don't want it to slip.

Edward growled in fury, I've never seen him look this feral before. Alice shook her head quickly, looking panicked.

"Carlisle?" I turned to look at him.

Edward grabbed my face in his hand, forcing me to look at him. His other hand was out, palm toward Carlisle.

Carlisle ignored that. "I'm able to do it," he answered my question. I wished I could see his expression. "You would be in no danger of me losing control."

"Sounds good." I hoped he could understand; it was hard to talk clearly the way Edward held my jaw.

"Hold on," Edward said between his teeth. "It doesn't have to be now."

"There's no reason for it not to be now," I said, the words coming out distorted. I wish Edward would see everything from my perspective, the sooner I'm one of them, the less dangerous they'll be in.

"I can think of a few."

"Of course you can," I said sourly. "Now let go of me."

He freed my face, and folded his arms across his chest. "In about two hours, Charlie will be here looking for you. I wouldn't put it past him to involve the police."

"All three of them." But I frowned.

This was always the hardest part. Charlie, Renee. Now Jacob, too. The people I would lose, the people I would hurt. I wished there was some way that I could be the only one to suffer, but I knew that was impossible.

At the same time, I was hurting them more by staying human. Putting Charlie in constant danger through my proximity. Putting Jake in worse danger still by drawing his enemies across the land he felt bound to protect. And Renee—I couldn't even risk a visit to see my own mother for fear of bringing my deadly problems along with me!

I was a danger magnet; I'd accepted that about myself. I knew I needed to be able to take care of myself and protect the ones I loved, even if that meant that I couldn't be with them. I needed to be strong.

"In the interest of remaining inconspicuous," Edward said, still talking through his gritted teeth, but looking at Carlisle now, "I suggest that we put this conversation off, at the very least until Bella finishes high school, and moves out of Charlie's house."

"That's a reasonable request, Bella," Carlisle pointed out.

I thought about Charlie's reaction when he woke up this morning, if—after all that life had put him through in the last week with Harry's loss, and then I had put him through with my unexplained disappearance—he were to find my bed empty. Charlie deserved better than that. It was just a little more time; graduation wasn't so far away…

I pursed my lips. "I'll consider it." I suppose if I had to, I could wait but I refuse to be twenty when it happens. If Edward and most of the Cullens were transformed while they were still teenagers then so would I.

Edward relaxed and unclenched his jaw. He probably thinks that the further away it is, the more time he has to talk me out of it. "Let me take you home Bella, you need to rest and Charlie may wake up any minute to check on you."

I was far too mellow to contest him and nodded, "Take me home." Maybe then I would wake up in my bed and find out that everything that occurred was just a dream. That this Evie turned out to be a figment of my imagination and I was nervous for no reason.

* * *

Evie's POV

 _Forks Washington, 19th March 2006_

Animal blood was truly revolting. During my five hundred years of existence I have never once heard of such a ludicrous diet...until two days ago when I learnt about a coven of 'vegetarians'. Obviously it wasn't in the traditional sense, vampires are unable to digest solid food. What it did mean however, was to replace the typical vampire diet of human blood by substituting it for animal blood. Personally I didn't see the appeal in it, but unfortunately I was going to have to learn to survive on it for the duration of my stay in Forks.

There were no blood banks in the local vicinity nor was there an overpopulation of homeless people. That's the problem with small towns, if you start to feast on any of the inhabitants its quick to raise attention and then that results in other problems. Such as having the Volturi hunting you down to protect the existence of our kind. One thing I had to admit was that I greatly admired the Cullen family. A majority of vampires choose to live a nomadic life because our natural predatory instincts cause us to become very competitive when it comes to our prey.

This was not the case with the Cullens.

It appeared that while animal blood wasn't the most appetizing food source in the world, the abundance of wild animals in Forks allowed the Cullens to curb their predatory desires and allow them to peacefully coexist with each other. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. Out of all the five senses, sight is the most misleading. To be a successful hunter, you need to have a keen sense of smell and developed auditory nerves.

About a couple miles away from me heading north, was a herd of elk. Every creature has a distinct smell and although some of them have similar scents due to their physiology. I opened my eyes and sprinted in their direction. It's been a long time since I've actually had to hunt for my prey. It was refreshing to say the least because I'm used to humans simply coming to me. The elk were visibly disturbed by my presence and tried to break away from me. I couldn't help but laugh at their futile efforts as I pounced on the largest one, restraining it.

It started to make distressed noises, I ignored it and scanned for its pulse. My teeth had no problem cutting through its hide and once my venom made its way through the elk's bloodstream, it stopped squirming. The taste may have left a lot to be desired but it quenched the fire in my throat. I greedily gulped it down, feeling myself growing stronger and rejuvenated. By the time I finished, the elk was completely drained and the light in its eyes had gone out. I now understood how the Cullens survived on animal blood, I could tell it required discipline and strong willpower. While it did sustain me in the same way as human blood, it wasn't quite as satisfying and it left a peculiar taste in my mouth. Still, I needed to feed and this was the only 'ethical' food source available.

Just as I prepared myself to hunt for my next meal, a horrible stench burned my nostrils. If it was possible for myself to regurgitate or have nose bleeds, I imagine that odour would have triggered one of those reactions. It smelt oddly familiar though, like somebody wearing a perfume that you can remember smelling before but you can't place its name. That was when the growling started and I could feel multiple feet pounding on the forest ground.

My eyes widened in realisation and for the first time in two centuries, my knees shook. Over the millennia, humans wrote myths and false facts about what vampires feared and harmed us. It goes without saying that practically all of these myths are absolute bullshit. However, humans did get one thing right. There was only one creature that vampires feared, it was imbued in all of us. Like how babies are born without a fear of anything - except loud noises. The same applied to vampires except in this case, it wasn't loud noises.

It was Children of the Moon. Or in layman's terms, werewolves. The natural enemies of our kind.

I had to leave. Now.

I was tempted to run to the Cullens house but remembered I couldn't because I still had to visit Fork's High. From my current location it would be incredibly difficult, this was a large forest and I would almost certainly run into the Children of the Moon. What would offer my best chance of survival? I thought back to when I had participated in the war against them. Children of the Moon were unpredictable and feral, that made it difficult to anticipate their moves. They were also impervious to venom, making it impossible to paralyze them.

The sound of snapping branches and the small insects in the forest being disturbed, reminded me that I was running out of time. I did the only thing that I could. I ran. I bounced off of the trees, hoping that like our previous encounter they would have problems climbing up higher ground. Children of the Moon may be able to match a vampire's strength and speed, but they weren't as flexible and light as us. I leaped from tree to tree and was halfway to the town centre when I got blindsided by a russet wolf.

It managed to knock me out of the tree and I tumbled face down into the dirt. I looked up and was met with the sight of seven wolves. My body shook. This wasn't right. Children of the Moon never hung around in packs, they were far too competitive for that. They either hung around with a mate or hunted individually. Plus they weren't attacking me, another oddity. It almost appeared like they were...analysing me.

I didn't want to waste the opportunity being provided to me, so I quickly used my hands to spring into a backwards somersault and continued bouncing off of the trees. The wolves howled and aggressively continued hunting me. Were these wolves actual Children of the Moon, or were they something else that I hadn't seen before. Something...new? These wolves appeared to display reason, a somewhat human quality as opposed to their animalistic nature. They didn't attack me straightaway, instead they observed me. But why?

I had to test my theory. True Children of the Moon attacked even in the presence of humans. For them to continue their existence, they too had to infect humans. I was even more determined to make it to the town centre. Suddenly a grey wolf who was considerably smaller than the others, attempted to knock me out of the tree again. This time I was prepared for it and kicked it in its throat. It went down with a whine, wheezing. That may have been an error of judgment on my part because it seemed to piss the others off. What is with this pack mentality?!

I dove under the black wolf that was heading my way and finished with a forward roll. I wasted no time stopping, I was nearly in town. I jumped over a log and threw it in the wolves' direction. Most of them managed to leap over it apart from the sandy coloured wolf who had the misfortune of it colliding with its face. I didn't look back after that. Instead I swung my arms and knocked down all the trees I could in an attempt to slow them down. To hell with being inconspicuous! My survival came first. My senses were being kicked into overdrive and prior to this chase, my instincts had never been this strong. Before I realized what had happened, I almost collided with a truck. I managed to avoid the vehicle by speeding past it and pausing under a street light.

I looked behind me and to my surprise, the wolves had vanished. If not for all the tree trunks that signified the path of destruction that I had just made, I would have thought that I imagined the entire encounter. I chuckled before continuing my journey to Forks High. I certainly wasn't cutting through the forest on my way back to the Cullens. Speaking of the Cullens, it appeared that there were a few things they failed to inform the Volturi about. It was a crime for Children of the Moon to exist in the same town as vampires, simply because it always ended in bloodshed. I was tempted to report it but decided against this. I had only been in Forks for less than twenty-four hours and having the Volturi come here was less than ideal.

The Children of the Moon would be slaughtered, along with the Cullens. I couldn't foresee any situation in which this ended well. I don't know why, for some reason I felt bound to the Cullen family. Their lifestyle was unheard of and yet, they had managed to settle down in one town for a few years. I had this strange curiosity to learn how they remained undetected from the humans. It couldn't have been easy and yet, they had done it. Maybe I would give them some time before reporting them. After all, it had been a while since I was last free to do whatever I wished.


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes: Thank you to the three people who reviewed the last chapter and the person who decided to follow this story, I hope I don't disappoint you guys. For this chapter I decided to do something a little different and write it in Jacob's perspective. Also I may publish another Twilight story that I have in the works because I've published more than I anticipated for this story in the past 6 days. It would take place during the events of Twilight and possibly be a Jasper x OC story.**

 **I hope everybody enjoys this chapter and if anybody pays attention to the quotes used in each chapter, I use them in order to show the readers the mindset of the person whose perspective the chapter s written in.**

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Chapter 3

 _La Push Washington, 20th March 2006_

Jacob's POV

 _"Do something every day that you don't want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain."  
-Mark Twain_

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Be-

I slammed my hand down on my alarm's snooze button. I groaned, rolling around and winced at the shooting pain in my chest. There was no way I could make it to school today. I barely got any sleep last night and to top it off, I was pretty certain that I broke a rib. Although it had long since healed, I still felt incredibly sore. Last night, some unknown bloodsucker passed through the woods and Sam was certain that it wasn't any of the Cullen's because of the scent. While all bloodsuckers do smell repulsive, if you focus hard enough then it's possible to differentiate them. That is if you can stand that god awful stench.

The Pack has been on high alert ever since that red haired bitch Victoria kept circling back in the woods and invaded our territory to reach Bella. At first we thought it was the same person because of the red hair and that she had managed to change her scent, but when we saw her we could tell it was a completely different bloodsucker. This one was taller, leaner and her movements were erratic in comparison. We chased her through the entire woods until we lost her in the street. Paul wanted to keep going but Sam forced us all to pull back. It's our job to keep the regular humans ignorant of what's real and what's not. We couldn't risk exposing ourselves over one vampire.

My phone vibrated right as I was about to fall back asleep. 'You have one new message', it alerted me. I yawned, glancing over the message from Seth before groaning.

'Sam wants 2 c everybody 9am.'

I checked the time, it was only 8:30am. At least that gave me time for a quick shower. I swallowed hard once I saw the photograph on my bedside cabinet and slammed it onto its face. The glass shattered instantly but I ignored it.

Mornings were the hardest part of my day because for the first few seconds after I wake up, I manage to forget about everything. I can pretend that everything is still okay and that she's coming round to my garage, watching me tinker with the motorcycles. Until reality kicks in and I remember that she made her decision because I wasn't enough for her.

Even after four days when she chose him over me, it still hurt. Whoever said time healed all wounds didn't know what they were talking about. I loved her, I was there for her when he wasn't. Despite all of that, it wasn't enough for her. Me and her could have been so happy together.

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)O(

Paul, Jared, Embry, Quil, Leah and Seth were already at Sam's by the time I got there. I always seem to be last to everything these days.

Judging from the yellowing bruise that decorated Leah's throat, she was easily the most pissed out of all of us. Last night, the rogue bloodsucker had crushed her trachea. Thankfully due to how abnormally fast we heal, Leah had emerged from the fight with only a bruise to show for it. Paul was the antsiest out of us, he was pacing around and cracking his knuckles. If there was one thing Paul hated, it was when situations were out of his control. He was annoyed that he hadn't been able to land any blows on the vampire.

"We should be hunting that leech down!" Paul insisted, tightening his fist. "For all we know, she could the one killing all those people or in league with that other red head."

Sam held his hand up to silence Paul. "But we don't want to be creating unnecessary panic either. Nevertheless I can see your point. Leaving her unmonitored would be a liability and we can't risk the deaths of anymore innocent people."

"You got that right." Leah growled, I could hear her grinding her teeth from almost six feet away. I could tell that she was also itching to hunt the leech down.

"Hold on." Seth piped up. "Are you forgetting about that dead Elk we found?"

Last night while we were hunting her down, we stumbled across an Elk that had been drained of all its blood along its throat ripped out. Judging by its body warmth, it had been recently killed.

"Probably one of the Cullen's meals. The Treaty prevents them from hunting humans, so they have no choice but to hunt the wildlife." Jared grumbled, scratching the back of his neck.

"But there were no other scents in the woods," Seth reminded us. "If it was the Cullen's and they had recently killed that Elk, their scent would have been all over that body. What if the girl lives the same lifestyle as them and we'd be wasting our time hunting her down when we should be hunting the other vampire."

I rolled my eyes, that kid was far too naive. I doubt that bloodsucker is one of the Cullen's, otherwise I would have seen her hanging around...Bella. I felt the lump in my throat rising, I swallowed it down and listened in on the pack's discussion. I preferred not to get involved in these talks, too much responsibility and I rather do my own thing. If I wanted to get involved in supernatural politics, I would have taken my 'rightful' place as Alpha of the pack. The first time I phased, Sam offered me his position of Alpha because it was my birth right as a descendant of Ephraim Black.

"Shut it Seth, you don't know what you're talking about." Leah snapped, folding her arms. "Every leech is the same."

However Sam looked like he was taking Seth's point into consideration. "We need to settle this once and for all. Jacob?"

I snapped my head up in surprise, I didn't think that I would have to get involved. "Hmm?"

"The Swan girl is close to the Cullen's, correct." It didn't sound like it was phrased as a question. More like he was waiting for a confirmation that she chose them over me.

"Yeah, what of it?" Talking about her made my chest ache, knowing that I could never have her in the way I wanted.

"Ask her about the unknown vampire. If she is one of the Cullen's, we need to make sure that they haven't broken the Treaty by turning a human and starting a war." Sam ordered.

I clenched my own fists. Sam knew that I couldn't disobey his orders and he also knew that I would never willingly talk to Bella. The downside to being a werewolf. If an Alpha ordered his pack to follow his orders, we had no choice but to oblige. Plus he was aware of my current situation with Bella because of the telepathic link the pack had with each other.

"And if she isn't?" Embry asked what we all wanted to know.

"Then we have no choice, we can't risk endangering any lives. If the girl isn't with the Cullen's, we have to assume she's allied with the red haired vampire who has a vendetta against the Swam family. The next time we see her, we execute her."

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)O(

 _Forks Washington, 20th March 2006_

Evie's POV

Grrrrr. Bella Swan is the single most annoying individual I've ever had the misfortune of meeting. Granted Papa warned me that she was immune to his and Jane's ability, meaning that there was a good chance my ability wouldn't work on her. Sadly, he was correct in his assumption. Although I have managed to successfully integrate myself into the Cullen family and Forks High School, Bella is the only one to see through my ruse. Every moment somebody acts like they know me, she is quick to question them.

Thankfully my illusion is so strong that the person simply believes that Bella is joking and they play along with it for a short while. But the moment that I gained the most satisfaction from was the look on Bella's face when she found out I was in all of her classes and from her teachers and classmates that I've been in Forks High since before she joined. I left the school around lunch though, I hadn't yet made contact with Papa and updated him on my progress. I also had to phone Mama because I knew she would be missing me the most. For the duration of my existence, I rarely left her side.

Once I put enough distance between myself and the school, I ran into the woods and pulled out my cellphone. However before I could dial, a familiar burning odor overrode my sense of smell. I turned around and was faced with a tall fellow. His skin was tan, eyes a deep shade of brown and bulging muscle stretched his green vest top. This must be one of the Children of the Moon who followed me yesterday! My body instinctively curled into a defensive stance, I bared my teeth and hissed.  
"Were you the one trailing me yesterday?" I demanded.

"And what if I was?" His own body tensed up in response.

"You caused a great inconvenience to me." I backed up slightly, planning both a fight plan and escape route if needed.

He scoffed, "You have no idea what problems you caused for my pack. Are you working for that red haired leech?"

My ears perked up, red haired leech? Is there another coven or a nomad in Forks?

"You would have to specify, there's more than just one 'red haired leech' in the world." I mocked him, feeling great disdain for the person in front of me.

"Oh please, you know exactly which leech I'm talking about. And I'm telling you that whatever she's planning to do to Bella, it's not going to work. She's heavily protected so tell your master that she's wasting her time." He sneered, I straightened my back. This fool was a threat but nothing I couldn't handle.

"I can assure you that I don't know what you're talking about but I already know that Bella Swan is protected by the Olympic Coven." I replied, "Or the Cullen's as you know them as."

He relaxed slightly, even though his shoulders were still squared. "So are you a member of the Cullen family?"

I curled my lips around my teeth, "You could say that."

He frowned, "Then I'll just confirm it with Bella. I have this policy against trusting leeches."

I instantly blocked his path, pushing him backwards and almost winced. My palm felt like I had dipped my hand into an open fire. I looked him straight into his eyes and narrowed my own, "You're not going to do that. In fact, you're going to forget this whole encounter even happened."

The anger in the boy's eyes started to diminish and it was replaced with confusion instead. He was going to be in a daze for a few seconds, so I used that as an opportunity to get as far away from the woods as possible. Papa was going to be very interested in not just Bella's transformation date, but the other secrets the Cullen's had been hiding. I was hoping that my plans to gather more evidence would be enough to persuade him to let me stay in Forks for a while longer.

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 **Author's Notes: How did I do writing Jacob's perspective? I tried to portray how he is still freshly hurt over Bella and is choosing to immerse himself in pack duties to distract himself. I also gave you guys a slight preview of what Evie's ability is, I'll expand on it in later chapters. Please leave a review if you enjoyed this ^^**


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes: Eekkk I'm so happy to see 15 reviews, 7 favourites and 11 followers. Thank you everybody who made this possible, you really motivate me to update this story frequently. As a reward, I've decided to explore a different angle for this chapter by focusing on Evie's relationship with one certain vampire in the Volturi, as well as explaining some of her background. But first, I'll reply to some reviews.**

 **Justabookreader: I thought that after four chapters, I should probably shed some light on Evie's powers to help with any confusion the readers have. Thank you, I know that after being rejected by Bella Jacob focused on his pack duties but she was likely in his thoughts a lot due to the love he had for her.**

 **Twilightfanjm: Thank you so much, I was aiming to go for an original story concept and to know I'm succeeding fills me with great joy.**

 **Potterfan922: Yeah I thought a lot about if the wolves would be affected by something like that but in Breaking Dawn when Bella had to use her mental shield to protect them from Jane and Alec, I assume that means that they are affected by mental attacks. The only reason Bella isn't immune to Evie's ability is due to her mental shield. It is Jacob at the end ^^ sorry I was hoping that it would be obvious after Sam instructed him to speak to Bella.**

 **Now please enjoy this chapter.**

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Chapter 4  
 _Volterra Italy, 25th March 2006_

Demetri's POV

 _"_ _Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue, a wonderful living side by side can grow, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole against the sky."  
— Rainer Maria Rilke_

After I had finished feeding and disposed of the deceased clothing, Gianna stopped me before I could walk back to my chambers.

"Mr Demetri, telefonata per te (Mr. Demetri, phone call for you)." She handed the plastic handset to me.

I accepted it, covering the microphone with my hand. "Chi è esso (who is it)?" I asked Gianna, she shrugged and went back to her work. I was currently in a good mood, sating my thirst had placed me in high spirits. Still, I was curious at who would be phoning me specifically.

"Hello?"

"How are you prestante (handsome)?" It was a flirtatious voice that I hadn't heard in over a week. I had missed it immensely.

"Cara mia (my dear)," I cooed. "What name are you calling yourself now?" Every time la mia bella ragazza left Volterra, she changed her name to ensure that they couldn't connect her with the Volturi.

"Technically Evelyn but I shortened it to Evie." She giggled. "I miss being able to exchange those secret glances that Papa doesn't approve of, with you. This place is incredibly dull without you to brighten it up for me like you usually do."

Demetri felt a large smile break out on his face. Usually he accompanied Evie on her assignments and vice versa, this was the longest in over four centuries that they had been apart from each other.

"You flatter me cara mia. When are you coming back to Volterra? Surely you've already accomplished what Masters Aro and Caius ordered?" She was only meant to find out the date for Isabella Swan's transformation and ensure the Cullen's followed through.

She let out a breathy sigh, "As the younger generation phrase it these days, do you want the good news or the bad news?"

My stomach swirled, "What do you mean by the bad news?"

"Oh cuore mio (my heart), promise me you won't raise any suspicion I don't want Papa to find out. If you cause a scene over the phone, he'll definitely want to read your thoughts." Evie sounded anxious, a first for her. It did nothing to allay my concerns for her.

"I can't make any promises but I'll try my best." I admitted. Master Aro had ears everywhere, he made it his duty to omniscient.

"Bella Swan will be changed into one of us but not in the near present. Her mate Edward was very adamant about this and delayed it until her high school graduation which is June 11th." She confessed, I could imagine her biting her bottom lip.

"Have you informed anyone else?" I managed to keep myself calm, this situation couldn't be easy for Evie either. The least I could do was be strong for her.

"No and I don't intend to. If I tell Papa or Master Caius, they'll force me to come back to Volterra and check to see if the Cullen's do transform Bella in June. And there's something else I need to keep an eye on." I kept my hand steady on the phone and let this piece of information wash over me.

"What could be this important that you risk defying your orders?" Even if she was favoured by Master Aro and Mistress Sulpicia, she wouldn't escape punishment. "And what about Mistress Sulpicia, she misses you."

"I know that's untrue, there's a reason Mama always has Corin around her. I-I'm not exactly certain, that's why I need to stay in Forks. I have a hunch about something and if I manage to confirm it, this could be the start of something big. I can't tell you the full details Demetri because if Papa does read your thoughts, you can feign some type of innocence and your ability as a tracker will prevent him from punishing you too severely. But what I can tell you is that last week, I was attacked because they thought I was another red haired vampire." I had to restrain myself from crushing the handset, the thought of her being injured angered me greatly. If I find out who did it, they would suffer.

"I'm okay, I managed to evade them. It got me thinking though and I need to track them down in order to find out the full details."

"Let me come down to Forks, there's nobody else in the world who can match my tracking skills." I insisted. It's not that I viewed Evie as weak, quite the opposite actually. I know what she's capable of but for my own piece of mind, I would feel comfortable knowing she had assistance if she required it.

"That's exactly what I want to avoid. I'm sorry, please just trust me. I have to go, ti amo tanto (I love you so much)." I could hear the determination mixed with the sadness in her voice.

"Ti penso ogni giorno- (I think of you every day)." I rushed in until the line went dead and I realised that I now held the broken pieces of the handset. I was overcome by a mixture of emotions. Anger at the fact that she chose to be stubborn and refuse my assistance. Helpless because what if she was attacked again and this time, her attackers succeeded?

I wanted her to be safe, to show her the world outside Volterra and one day, even take her to my native Greece. The Guards were forbidden from mating with each other because the Masters believed that it would distract us from our duties and prevent us from completely focusing in battle if we were concerned with the wellbeing of our mate. However there were certain exceptions. If there was a risk of both members wanting to leave the Volturi and one of them had a valuable ability, then it was allowed in order to persuade them to stay. But they couldn't stop us from exchanging loving glances when other people's backs were turned, or the occasional touch.

"Stai bene Mr. Demetri (are you okay Mr. Demetri)?" Gianna looked concerned by my sudden decline in mood. I found myself grabbing her by the throat and my teeth sinking into her neck.

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)O(

 _Forks Washington, 25_ _th_ _March 2006_

Evie's POV

I crumbled onto the ground, pulling my knees into my chest. If not for a vampire's inability to cry, I would be bawling my eyes out right now. I wasn't homesick. Quite the opposite actually. For the past week, living among the humans while having to keep up the façade of a normal human teenager who was in the process of deciding which college to attend, was very refreshing.

However I was pretty much failing every class except English Literature, Spanish and History. The Volturi only had an appreciation for the arts and therefore based their entire culture around it. That was the main reason I was passing Literature, when one cannot sleep and is around for centuries, you find ways to amuse yourself. History…well I lived through and experienced many historical events first hand. For instance, the Salem witch trials. Papa was looking to recruit more members into the Guard and during the seventeenth century, humans often mistook talents for witchcraft.

And Spanish? Italian is my mother tongue and I suppose Spanish could be considered its sister language. That and with all the travelling being a member of the guard requires, being fluent in more than one language comes in handy. As I mentioned before, being immortal and never sleeping equates to having a ton of spare time. I also understand fluent English and Latin, although I'm tempted to learn more.

What I missed the most about Italy was Demetri and how he helped me feel at ease. I have absolutely no memories of my human life, not even my transformation and according to all vampires, the sharpest memory of their human life was being bitten. All I know about my existence is that I was nineteen when I was turned, I lived in Firenze (or Florence in English) during the Renaissance period in the sixteenth century. I remember what Master Caius once told me in an attempt to spite me because during my first few decades, I solely attended to Mama and Athenodora as I wasn't sure of my place in the Volturi.

He told me that the only reason I was given a place in the Volturi was because Mama grew attached to me. I had no visible talents, therefore I was a 'waste of space'. It wasn't until I reached the age of two hundred and thirty that anybody realised I did in fact have a talent. Those who spent the most time around me found their short term memories being erased and easily lost several hours of their day, simply by hanging around me. A new addition was made to the Guard, a Spanish vampire who went by the name Eleazar and he had the ability to sense the talents of anybody who wielded one.

I'll never forget Eleazar's first words to me. "Are you aware that you can manipulate the memories of others?" Turned out he knew more about me then I did.

I remember once when I was discussing my talent with Papa, he was delighted. He explained to me that the venom all vampires possess amplifies everything within them and for any abilities it manifests, it's a result of that human's strongest trait being augmented. Papa came to the conclusion that something substantial must have happened to me in my human life because it was significant enough to emerge as my talent.

Demetri was the first person to accept me for myself. Mama was only fond of me for superficial reasons and Papa only viewed me as a tool that simply favoured me because of my Renaissance background. What I feel for Demetri wasn't an instant attraction and took some time for it to develop. At first, it started off with me being ordered to accompany him on his assignments in case my ability could aid him. To prevent any coven wars or raise the human's suspicion, I always manipulated the surviving members memories of what happened to their missing member. If it was a human that Demetri needed to track down, I made the family believe he or she died from some incurable illness. If it was a vampire on the other hand, my personal favourites were 'left to live a nomadic life' or the 'coven executed that particular member since they threatened their existence'.

A side effect of my ability was it always left the subject in a sort of trance afterwards because the brain needs time to reboot and register the changes. In battle or needing to make a quick escape, it came in handy because it left those affected more compliant.

During these missions where we would spend days on the road together, it forced us to talk and learn more about each other. The stories Demetri told me about his human life, how he was turned at twenty-one and even in his vampire life when he was a part of the Egyptian Coven. I only had my own viewpoint of the world to offer up to him because I had no memories and I spent a majority of my time in seclusion. As a result of this, it left me open minded but rendered me naive to some extent. Still, Demetri never looked at me as incomplete, the way I saw myself. He helped me in ways the others did not.

I remember the first time he kissed me. The year was 1888 and it was pouring heavily with rain. We had been sent to London, England to hunt down a rogue vampire who had murdered four prostitutes...well five by the time Demetri found him and the body count almost reached six as the rogue had targeted me. My red hair captured his attention and I was the first female vampire he had ever seen.

There's no doubt in my mind that he would have murdered more and exposed the existence of our kind if he wasn't executed. Papa and Masters Caius and Marcus certainly thought so. The Brits had anointed him with the name 'Jack the Ripper'. Nevertheless, that's a story for another time. The way Demetri scooped me into his arms, our lips melding together and my body fit perfectly against his. It felt like the most natural thing in the world.

I'm envious of the Cullen's for this very reason. They're free to express their love for each other, I'm forbidden from doing the same. I hope I can find out more about this red haired vampire and the Children of the Moon so that I can be reunited with Demetri again.

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 **Author's Notes: Twilight is a story about romance, so I figured that this story should include some romance even though it isn't one of the main themes ^^ If anybody is curious about the time Evie and Demetri hunted down Jack the Ripper and would be interested in reading about it, visit the poll on my profile. The next chapter will be set around the epilogue of New Moon, leading onto Eclipse. Please leave a review or follow this story if you're interested in reading more. Thank you for reading.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Author's Notes: This is the longest chapter so far for 'Time to Say Goodbye' because I was so happy by the amount of reviews the last chapter received! Thank you to the six people who reviewed Chapter 4, the additional three people who favorited this story along with the five new followers!**

 **I would like to thank everybody who has supported me from the start along with my new supporters, you made it possible for me to reach 21 reviews. I'm surprised that everybody also positively reacted to Demetri x Evie, even if it does sorta have the cliche forbidden love angle but I explained the reasoning behind it in chapter 4.**

 **My poll regarding the Demetri x Evie oneshot is still up ^^ And on a final note, this chapter concludes the 'New Moon' portion of TTSG and next chapter will mark the start of the Eclipse portion of this story. It'll be more influenced by the events in the Eclipse film though because of how actively involved the Volturi were in comparison to the book.**

 **I must warn you that this story will become darker as it progresses, there's a reason the Volturi is feared in the vampire world. Plus Bella will also not stand by and allow Evie to continue whatever she is doing, Bella just hasn't had the opportunity to handle the Evie situation due to her being grounded for over two months. Now enjoy this chapter and tell me your opinions ^^**

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Chapter 5

 _Forks Washington, 15_ _th_ _April 2006_

Bella's POV

" _Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving."  
-Albert Einstein _

The past few weeks had gone by in a blur, largely because Charlie had grounded me ever since I came back from Italy. He kept me on a strict lockdown and I didn't protest because I knew I deserved it. I was only allowed to leave the house to go to school and that was it. Thankfully Charlie had been reasonable on the subject of Edward, he was allowed to visit within the designated visiting hours and our relationship was in the same idyllic as it was prior to the Cullens leaving. Although every day at school, I was able to spend all my time with Edward because he had resumed his schedule from the beginning of the year, which put him in most of my classes again.

However the only thing that changed was the presence of that female vampire, Evie. She was in a majority of my classes along with Edward. What both angered and confused me was that everybody appeared to know her, including Mike and Angela. They insisted that she had been attending Forks High for the last two years with Edward and Alice. I didn't know what to think, was Evie really the person everybody claims her to be and I was just going crazy? Or was my gut feeling about Evie correct and she shouldn't be trusted?

I keep asking Edward what Evie's thoughts are like, he said she just thinks about what it was like to be touched. I was puzzled by what that meant and he explained that unlike the rest of his family, Evie never found a mate. One problem I faced was that I found it hard to believe him because these days Edward just kept blanking out, which was highly unlike him because in the time that I've known him he's never lost once lost focus. His inability to sleep ensured that. Another thing I came to realise was that when this typically happened, Evie was around. I didn't know what to make of this but if my gut feeling was right, she could be causing all of this.

Other than Evie, I had other stuff to worry about. Like Jacob Black, my now ex best friend. He had been peeved that I chose Edward over him and due to my house arrest, I couldn't drive over to La Push. I had no other opportunities to phone him apart from at 9pm every night before Edward snuck through my bedroom window. Edward disapproved of Jacob greatly because of his werewolf status, so I didn't mention Jacob at all during these past couple weeks. Once again, I was the fragile human who had to be protected. Sometimes I felt Edward only used that excuse when it suited him. That's why today when he picked me up from work, we had a discussion about the Jacob situation because I could no longer hold my tongue about that subject matter. I had phoned him yesterday and Billy answered, except instead of making up an excuse as per usual he simply said that Jacob didn't want to speak to me.

Other than that the journey was less then eventful, until Edward pulled up in front of my house. Every time I looked at his face, that impossibly perfect face, my heart pounded strong and healthy and very there in my chest. This time, the pounding raced ahead of its usual besotted pace. I recognized the expression on his statue-still face.

"You're in trouble Bella." He whispered through unmoving lips.

I slid closer, clutching his arm as I followed his gaze to see what he was seeing. I don't know what I expected—maybe Victoria standing in the middle of the street, her flaming red hair blowing in the wind, or a line of tall black cloaks… or a pack of angry werewolves. But I didn't see anything at all.

"What? What is it?" He was worrying me, there's not much else I can do to get in more trouble.

He took a deep breath. "Charlie…"

"My dad?" I screeched.

He looked down at me then, and his expression was calm enough to ease some of my panic.

"Charlie… is probably not going to kill you, but he's thinking about it," he told me. He started to drive forward again, down my street, but he passed the house and parked by the edge of the trees.

"What did I do?" I gasped.

Edward glanced back at Charlie's house. I followed his gaze, and noticed for the first time what was parked in the driveway next to the cruiser. Shiny, bright red, impossible to miss. My motorcycle, flaunting itself in the driveway. Edward had said that Charlie was ready to kill me, so he must know that—that it was mine. There was only one person who could be behind this treachery, but why would Jacob do this to me? He knew how overprotective Charlie was and in his line of work, he's come across serious accidents involving motorcycles...meaning I was royally screwed.

"Is he still here?" I hissed, if I saw Jacob I couldn't be held responsible for my actions.

"Yes. He's waiting for us there." Edward told me, gesturing towards the slender path that divided the dark fringe of the forest in two. I jumped out of the car, launching myself toward the trees with my hands already balled into fists for the first punch.

One thing I both like and hate about Edward is that he's so much faster then me. He caught me around the waist before I made the path, probably because he didn't know what I was capable of in my angered state.

"Let me go! I'm going to murder him! Traitor!" I shouted the epithet toward the trees.

"Charlie will hear you," Edward warned me. "And once he gets you inside, he may brick over the doorway."

I glanced back at the house instinctively, and it seemed like the glossy red bike was all I could see. All I could see was red. The red bike. My vision had turned red. My blood was boiling. My head throbbed again.

"Just give me one round with Jacob, and then I'll deal with Charlie." I struggled futilely to break free. "Jacob Black wants to see me. That's why he's still here."

"Talk?" I asked.

"More or less."

"How much more?" My voice shook.

Edward smoothed my hair back from my face. "Don't worry, he's not here to fight me. He's acting as…spokesperson for the pack."

"Oh." I wonder what message Sam wanted to convey to me.

Edward looked at the house again, then tightened his arm around my waist and pulled me toward the woods. "We should hurry. Charlie's getting impatient."

We didn't have to go far; Jacob waited just a short ways up the path. He lounged against a mossy tree trunk as he waited, his face hard and bitter, exactly the way I knew it would be. He looked at me, and then at Edward. Jacob's mouth stretched into a humourless sneer, and he shrugged away from the tree. He stood on the balls of his bare feet, leaning slightly forward, with his trembling hands clenched into fists. He looked bigger than the last time I'd seen him. Somehow, impossibly, he was still growing. He would tower over Edward, if they stood next to each other.

I could tell that this wasn't going to go well.

)O(

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 _Forks Washington, 15_ _th_ _April 2006_

Evie's POV

For the past two weeks and six days, I've been trailing Bella everywhere to shed some light on some of the mysteries I was trying to uncover. Thankfully, her being grounded made my job a whole lot easier because she spent a majority of her time in school and the remainder at her house. Currently I had climbed up one of the trees in the woods that was the closest to the Swan household. I had spent the entire day outside Bella's place of work and after Edward came to pick her up to take her back home, I had already ran back to my favourite tree. Whenever Edward came close to unravelling my cover, I was able to erase his short term memory and keep my true identity a secret. The only problem with this is that it resulted in Edward spending a significant amount of his time in a confused trance and there was a small risk of his long term memories being affected also.

The problem with my ability to manipulate memories is that for it to work, I have to know exactly which memories I want to change but unlike my Papa, I can't see any of their memories. That's why when my ability is used in tandem with Papa's, it's a deadly combination. He learns all of the thoughts that an individual has ever thought and he passes the information over to me. Plus memories are a tricky thing to edit because everybody remembers events in different ways and some memories are too linked into another memory, so I can't always be sure if I'm manipulating the correct memory. For example, I am able to manipulate a large crowd of people's short term memory at the same time as the memory is still fresh in their mind and I was there to witness the recent event that I want to change or erase. However, the long term memory is more difficult due to people's differing experiences and instead of changing a memory, there's always the risk that I'll end up deleting it. I remember when I first started experimenting with my ability, I accidentally erased all of this one vampire's memories, leaving them a shadow of their former self.

Infiltrating the Cullen family and Forks High wasn't that difficult though. Papa had recently read every thought that Edward and Alice's ever had. It made my job a lot easier since I knew exactly which memories I wanted to change as I knew everything about the Cullen's arrival to Hoquiam in 1936, when they made the Treaty with the Quileute's, how Alice and Jasper found each other in 1948 but didn't join the Cullen's until 1950 and in 2003 when the Cullen's officially moved to Forks and enrolled in the local high school.

That made it easier for me to manipulate the other student's long term memories of the Cullen's. All I had left to do was to falsify the paperwork to prove that Evelyn 'Evie' Cullen had been a student at Forks High for the past three years. So Gianna got in touch with the local crime syndicate and made them an offer they couldn't refuse, ensuring that the documents were made on such a short notice. Then I just had to break into Forks High (that low budget school had the crappiest security system I've ever seen, I swear a Doberman or a group of vigilantes would have been more effective), store my details on the system and photocopy my birth certificate. Lastly I just had to create some fake grades and after witnessing the high marks of the other Cullen's, I averaged out with a 3.5 GPA to ensure that I blended in with them.

My plan worked perfectly and only Bella had the potential to thwart me. Thankfully the only Cullen that was allowed to visit Bella was none other than Edward and I had him wrapped around my pinkie finger. I almost scoffed at Charlie Swan's leniency for allowing his daughter's boyfriend to still visit her, even though she was 'grounded' as the humans put it. In the earlier days of our kind, Demetri told me that to be grounded meant being buried underground for a period of time until enough time has passed for the accused to have learnt their lesson. I don't know how this term got turned into meaning house arrest. In Volterra if any of us make a mistake, Papa has either Jane or Alec use their ability on us for a designated amount of time. Depending on how forgiving Papa was feeling, there was the occasional option of hand to hand combat with Felix. Unlike with Alec and Jane where you had no opportunity to fight back, you did with Felix.

Suddenly my nostrils burned, flooded by the familiar odour of the wolves that attacked me three weeks ago. It was also mixed with the sweet scent of another vampire and the especially delicious mouth-watering scent of human blood; looks like Edward and Bella are back. But who's the hostile? I adjusted my position from my hiding place and had a somewhat obscured view of Edward, Bella and that wolf in his human form who I confronted a couple weeks back. None of them look pleased to see each other.

"Bella." The tanned skin boy sounded emotionally distant in his greeting.

"Why?" Bella looked like she was trying her best not to cry, such a weak human. "How could you do this to me, Jacob?"

The sneer vanished from his face but he still looked unwelcoming. "It's for the best."

"What is that supposed to mean? Do you want Charlie to strangle me? Or did you want him to have a heart attack, like Harry? No matter how mad you are at me, how could you do this to him?" Bella exclaimed, anger bubbling over in her voice.

Ouch. Even I felt that, talk about pulling punches.

The tan skinned bot winced, and his eyebrows pulled together, but he didn't answer. Is he more of a coward then I originally thought because he's finally realised that you can't resort to violence every time something doesn't go your way?

"He didn't want to hurt anyone—he just wanted to get you grounded, so that you wouldn't be allowed to spend time with me," Edward murmured, using his gift to read the thoughts of the mutt.

I could feel the intensity of his anger filled stare all the way from here. This guy must really hate vampires or just Edward.

"Aw, Jake!" Bella groaned. "I'm already grounded! Why do you think I haven't been down to La Push to kick your butt for avoiding my phone calls?"

That answers one question of mine. The guy is called Jake and he's from La Push. I made a mental note to research this kid first opportunity I got

"That's why?" Jake asked, and then locked his jaw, maybe he was starting to regret his actions.

"He thought I wouldn't let you, not Charlie," Edward explained again.

"Stop that." Jake snapped. If this kid thought Edward's gift was annoying, I wonder what he would think about Papa's. Now that was an annoying talent that allowed zero privacy.

Jake shuddered once, and then gritted his teeth as hard as his fists. "Bella wasn't exaggerating about your… abilities." He said through his teeth, looks like Edward is making this kid a believer in the special talents that only a minority of vampires are gifted with. "So you must already know why I'm here."

"Yes," Edward agreed in a soft voice. "But, before you begin, I need to say something."

Jake waited, clenching and unclenching his hands as he tried to control the shivers rolling down his arms...wait shivers?! It wasn't even that cold outside and the kid's skin is like a furnace, so why is he shivering? For some reason, the tremors that ran through Jake's body reminded me of something I had seen long ago. I had no problems with my short term memory but my long term memory on the other hand, that was another story. It occasionally acted up and took me a while to remember certain events.

"Thank you," Edward said, and his voice throbbed with the depth of his sincerity. "I will never be able to tell you how grateful I am. I will owe you for the rest of my… existence."

I could feel the truth of Edward's words from his tone. For vampires, losing their significant other is a bigger deal then it is for humans. Imagine meeting your soul mate, the one person who you connect with on every level and you can't imagine life without them. Then imagine losing that person and having to wander the rest of your days without them. At least humans can take comfort in the fact that they too will die one day and perhaps be reunited with their mate one day. Since our kind is immortal, once we lose our mate that's it. Life loses all meaning and grief overtakes all aspect of your life. All I had to do was look at Master Marcus to know what it felt like after he lost his mate Didyme, he's been nothing but apathetic ever since. He is the vampire that had the greatest love of all times, but also lost the greatest love of all times. If it wasn't for Chelsea's power, God only knows what would have become of Master Marcus.

Jake stared at him blankly, his shudders squared in surprise.

"For keeping Bella alive." Edward clarified, his voice rough and fervent. "When I… didn't."

"Edward—," Bella was interrupted by Edward who held one hand up, his eyes on Jake.

Understanding washed over Jake's face before the hard mask returned. "I didn't do it for your benefit." Wow I really don't think he likes Edward very much.

"I know. But that doesn't erase the gratitude I feel. I thought you should know. If there's ever anything in my power to do for you…"

Jake raised one black brow, I wonder what he was thinking.

Edward shook his head. "That's not in my power."

"Whose, then?" Jake growled.

Edward looked down at Bella. "Hers. I'm a quick learner, Jacob Black, and I don't make the same mistake twice. I'm here until she orders me away."

Jacob Black? Is that the tanned kid's full name? That should make it easier to research him later.

"Never." Bella whispered, still locked in Edward's eyes.

Jacob made a gagging sound and I did the very same. That was too sappy for me, did I get that way around Demetri? Surely not, I'm over five hundred years for God's sake. I may look like a teenager, but I'm too old to act like a lovesick teenager.

"Was there something else you needed Jacob? You wanted me in trouble—mission Accomplished. Charlie might just send me to military school.

But that won't keep me away from Edward. There's nothing that can do that. What more do you want?" Bella reiterated.

Jacob kept his eyes on Edward "I just needed to remind your bloodsucking friends of a few key points in the treaty they agreed to. The treaty chat is the only thing stopping me from ripping his throat out right this minute."

I rubbed my hands together in excitement, this was getting interesting. The only thing I needed to make this moment even more juicer was fresh human blood.

"We haven't forgotten," Edward said at the same time that Bella demanded, "What key points?"

Jacob still glowered at Edward, but he answered Bella instead. "The treaty is quite specific. If any of them bite a human, the truce is over. Bite, not kill." He emphasized.

My own eyes widened in realisation, it covers transforming a human into a vampire.

"That's none of your business." Bella screeched.

"The hell it—" Was all Jacob managed to choke out before his body broke out into more convulsions. He pressed his fists hard against his temples, closing his eyes tight and curling in on himself as he tried to control the spasms. His face turned sallow green underneath his tanned skin.

That was when the penny dropped for me. I remember once when Felix, Demetri, Alec, Jane and I were sent to control the outbreak of the Children of the Moon. We had arrived before a full moon had fully risen and just as we had cornered three of them, they convulsed in a similar manner before transforming into werewolves before our eyes. But there wasn't a full moon, how could Jacob possibly be in the process of transforming?

"Jake? You okay?" Bella took a half-step towards him, then Edward caught her and yanked her back behind his own body.

"Careful! He's not under control." Edward warned.

But Jacob was already somewhat himself again; only his arms were shaking now. He scowled at Edward with pure hate. "Ugh. I would never hurt her."

Did Jacob's moods influence his transformation into a wolf and if it did, was calling him a Child of the Moon an accurate term to describe him? Or did it warrant another name?

"BELLA!" Charlie's roar echoed from the direction of the house. "YOU GET IN THIS HOUSE THIS INSTANT!"

I let out a low whistle, somebody was in huge trouble.

"Crap." Bella sounded scared which was a natural reaction to what was happening.

Jacob's furious expression faltered. "I am sorry about that," he muttered. "I had to do what I could—I had to try."

"Just one more thing," Edward said to Bella, and then he looked at Jacob

"We've found no trace of Victoria on our side of the line—have you?" He knew the answer as soon as Jacob thought it, but Jacob spoke the answer anyway.

My ears perked up at the mention of this Victoria. I wonder who she was. Could it be that red haired vampire that Jacob asked me if I was affiliated with?

"Tried last time while Bella was… away. We let her think she was slipping through—we were tightening the circle, getting ready to ambush her. But then she took off like a bat out of hell. Near as we can tell, she caught your little female's scent and bailed. She hasn't come near our lands since."

This eavesdropping session was more beneficial than I originally thought. It may have taken me twenty days but finally my investigation is making progress.

Edward nodded. "When she comes back, she's not your problem anymore. We'll—"

"She killed on our turf," Jacob hissed. "She's ours!"

It sounds like whoever this 'Victoria' is, she's caused a lot of trouble for both the vampires and the werewolves.

"BELLA! I SEE HIS CAR AND I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE! IF YOU AREN'T INSIDE THIS HOUSE IN ONE MINUTE…!" Charlie didn't bother to finish his threat.

"Let's go," Edward said.

Bella looked back at Jacob, torn. Jacob and Bella must have been fairly close, at least while the Cullen's were gone.

"Sorry." Jacob whispered so low that if I didn't have supernatural hearing, I wouldn't have heard it. '"Bye, Bells."

"You promised," Bella sounded very desperate. "Still friends, right?"

Jacob shook his head slowly, "You know how hard I've tried to keep that promise, but… I can't see how to keep trying. Not now…"

He struggled to keep his hard mask in place, but it wavered, and then disappeared. "Miss you," he mouthed. One of his hands reached toward her, his fingers stretched out.

"Me, too." Bella choked out, her own hand reached out for his across the wide space.

"ISABELLA SWAN!"

"Come on, Charlie's mad. I need to hurry." Bella tugged on Edward's sleeve looking at him while Jacob retreated into the forest and Edward wrapped his arm around her waist. After a few seconds they retreated into the Swan household.

I waited for a few more minutes before dropping out of the tree. There were now a few things I was definitely sure of.

One, Jacob Black wasn't one of the Children of the Moon but rather something entirely different.

Two, Bella Swan wasn't leaving her house any time soon meaning I could relax my hold on her.

Three, this 'Victoria' had killed before and it sounded like she would kill again unless she was stopped. She was now the focus of my observations, but where would I start? Maybe it was finally time I shared some of my findings with Papa, I had to keep him informed just enough that he doesn't send Demetri or any members of the Guard after me.

After much thought, I decided on sending him a letter. Papa, Master Caius and Master Marcus were incredibly old fashioned and never quite managed to get the hang of phones. I could always phone Gianna and get her to write down a message for them, but there was too much for her to relay. It would be better if I wrote it myself. I checked the time, it was 6:48pm and a Saturday. First thing Monday morning, I would send the letter as a special delivery ensuring that it arrived within the next few days.

With one final smirk, I turned my back on Bella Swan's house and sprinted back to the Cullen house. Maybe I would ask Carlisle more about this Victoria and erase his memory if he got too suspicious.


	7. Chapter 6

**Author's Notes: Thank you everybody who reviewed and subscribed to this story, please enjoy this short but necessary chapter. This time we'll be looking at everything from the Volturi leaders perspective ^^**

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Chapter 6

 _Volterra Italy, 20_ _th_ _April 2006_

Aro's POV

 _"_ _Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with."  
-Niccolo Machiavelli_

There was a timid knock on the chamber door, deferring my attention to the human behind it. I smirked once I heard her jackrabbit heartbeat, I could feel how scared Melania our new secretary was. After Demetri's little…incident with Gianna, we had to hire a new secretary and Melania was more respectful in comparison to Gianna. For instance, she never burst through the doors unannounced or needlessly interrupted us. I gestured to Felix, signalling him to open the doors.

Melania quickly scurried into the room, carrying a thick white envelope on a silver platter. She curtsied to Caius, Marcus and I, holding out the platter in front of me. I gratefully accepted it and recognised the black, cursive handwriting on the front of the envelope.

"Ringraziare tu cara mia (thank you my dear)." I smiled and Melania returned it before scuttling out of the room. "Oooh it's a letter from Chiara, I wonder how il mio bambino (my child) is faring on her task." I sighed, she had been gone for just over a month and hadn't been in contact with us. I was sorely tempted to send Demetri and Felix after her to ensure that she hadn't gone AWOL, but that was now rendered unnecessary.

"It's been a month, how do we even know if the girl is still in Forks?" Caius sighed, resting his hand underneath his chin.

"The postmarks," Marcus exhaled, motioning to the stamps that decorated the envelope.

I used one of my nails to tear open the top and pull out the contents. "This letter is dated Sunday the 16th of April and the postmarks support it being sent off on the 17th of April." I informed them, my eyes scanning the double sided paper.

 _"_ _Dear Papa,_

 _I arrived safely in Forks, Washington on March 18_ _th_ _and was successful in my attempt to break into the Olympic Coven, also known as 'the Cullen Family'. I initially thought that it would be difficult to find out if the Cullen's were planning on turning Isabella Swan into one of us, due to her mate Edward's great reluctance in sacrificing her mortality. However, in this instance I was glad to be proved wrong as on the very next day when Alice and Edward Cullen arrived back in Forks, Isabella organised a meeting on this subject matter._

 _I know that you will be pleased to learn that when Isabella spoke of the possibility of the Volturi arriving in Forks to check on her status, she spoke with a tenor of fear in her voice because of the likelihood that it would end in bloodshed. In the end, it was decided that Isabella would be transformed in between the dates of June 13_ _th_ _and mid-August. Originally, Isabella insisted to be turned immediately but Edward being the voice of reason decided it would be beneficial if she was transformed after her high school graduation when she moves out of her father's house. If Isabella was transformed the moment she came back from Volterra, the effects would have been catastrophic as a result of the unpredictable nature of newborn vampires and increasing the chances of our existence being exposed._

 _I too agree with the Cullen's viewpoint, I believe if Isabella Swan has time to prepare for her transformation, the risks would be minimal and the timing convenient. On the other hand, I feel that I am not yet ready to depart from this town. I fear to admit that there are events occurring in Forks that either the Cullen's are not yet aware of, or they are aware but chose to not intervene. Therefore, I request to lengthen my stay in Forks to unravel the secrets behind this small town and ensure that the threat levels do not rise to the point that nothing can be undone. Until I gather more information and confirm my suspicions, I am unable to completely inform you of my activities._

 _If all goes well, I will contact you within a month and fully debrief you of my actions in Forks. Give my best to Mama, I miss her dearly._

 _Yours sincerely,  
Chiara Simonazzi_

"The child mocks you Aro," Caius sneered. "She's already completed her assignment and given us an estimate of the time for Isabella Swan's transformation. All we need to do is send Demetri and Felix to Forks in June to ensure the Cullen's don't back out of their obligation."

I held one of my hand's up, "Peace brother. Chiara has always been a loyal member and always carries out what is expected of her. If she believes that the Cullen's are guilty of another crime, then justice must be served. However, if we don't gather evidence first then we risk an uprising from our accusations. We'll grant the girl the month she requested to continue her investigations."

"And if she is uncooperative?" Marcus inquired.

I squeezed the arm of my chair, "Then we'll have to consider the possibility that she has become compromised. The Cullen's are already large in size and have an abundance of talented members, we can't allow somebody with Chiara's talents to join them."

Caius smirked, "Well…let's hope that doesn't happen. We wouldn't want there to be…needless bloodshed now, would we?"


End file.
